[Nasir Jones]

i have a 9700 right now and its great. scared to upgrade and have to deal with a terrible battery

[RWWackostu]

Get the 9900, properly manage the battery use, and all is good.

[infinus]

sure,
but you will get more powerfull device.
luxury of keyboard and form factory.
1.2Ghz processor...
...
they need some battery to work...
...
you can buy Gold battery and it will work like charm...
and new firmwares are more battery friendly...
...
your money, hence your choice.

[byul]

it's your decision, if you think it will give you bad battery, then you should consider to try something else.
if you think it's not that bad, then you should get it and try it out for yourself.
but that can't tell since you are afraid to have bad battery life when you get it.
it's all doable for me can get through a day with some usage.
go whatever suits you the best.

[MuskieManiac]

The battery is not as good as in the 9700, but the benefits of a superior device far outweigh the battery...which quite frankly will give you a day's use unless you are really going full tilt on watching movies or browsing all day. It is still better than android (never had an I phone so can't say).

[howards]

Once I upgraded to 7.1 I saw a whole different battery. Just thrilled with the results.

[Philldoe]

I have no idea why people complain about battery life. I've had my 9900 for a few months now and it lasts 2 full days before needing a charge. It all comes down to how smart you are with leaving crap open on the phone. If you're like every other who leaves every app on all the time then yeah, the battery will die within a few hours. But if you close an app when your done with it the phone will not require a charge but one every couple of days.

Stop blaming the phone and put the blame where it should be. THE USER.

[ZMc1834]

I get no less than 1+ days on my 9930, more often than not 2 days.

[palomartian]

I can do two days on the weekend, but during the week I charge it all night every night on the included charger.

[sulcopete]

I have no idea why people complain about battery life. I've had my 9900 for a few months now and it lasts 2 full days before needing a charge. It all comes down to how smart you are with leaving crap open on the phone. If you're like every other who leaves every app on all the time then yeah, the battery will die within a few hours. But if you close an app when your done with it the phone will not require a charge but one every couple of days.

Stop blaming the phone and put the blame where it should be. THE USER.

What possible basis could you have for such an inflammatory remark? Have you done research and tested multiple devices? And if you're really honest with us...isn't two full days stretching the truth just a little bit? Maybe a little? Believe me, I've been using a BlackBerry since my curve 8310 of 2006...and there's no ignorance or user error about me. The battery threads don't keep on appearing under 99xx for no reason...and if you think everyone with a battery problem is stupid, then you also have to explain why so many stupid people are buying 99xx.

[Philldoe]

What possible basis could you have for such an inflammatory remark? Have you done research and tested multiple devices? And if you're really honest with us...isn't two full days stretching the truth just a little bit? Maybe a little? Believe me, I've been using a BlackBerry since my curve 8310 of 2006...and there's no ignorance or user error about me. The battery threads don't keep on appearing under 99xx for no reason...and if you think everyone with a battery problem is stupid, then you also have to explain why so many stupid people are buying 99xx.

What basis? I own a 9900. My mother has a 9900. My best friend has a 9900. And my significant other has a 9900. That's a start.

No I am not stretching the truth, not even a little bit. All of us get about 2 days use froma single overnight charge. Heavy usage we get a day and a half, though my best friend only get's about a day and a quarter.

Nearly every other person I know with a BB seems to have the same issue. "It's slow and the battery only lasts a few hours." I ask to see the phone to trouble shoot it and what do I see? 10 freaking apps open in the BG. I close them out, restart the phone and it's creamy smooth.

I'm sorry bud but I've dedicated my life and career to technology. In those years I've found that people are supremely ignorant when it comes to the use of their technology. Close apps when you're done using them. Set your backlight to a low setting along with using auto dim. When you're not using large amounts of data, switch over to EDGE it will save you an ungodly amount of battery life. Se the back light to time out after 10 to 20 seconds.

I follow these rules (and many more) and I get to rub it into the face of iPhone users that I don't have to keep myself tethered to a charging cable at work all day.

Just for giggles, my 9000 lasted 3 days on a charge, same with my old 9800.

EDIT: If I tether my playbook to my phone and use the playbook for web ect then yes, I do get horrible battery life. But I've never seen a phone that didn't drain quickly when bluetooth was on.

EDIT 2: I never once used the word stupid. Maybe you are the one who needs to watch the inflamitory remarks. Stop making a mountain out of a mole hill or you'll start looking like a damned Troll.

[Chrysalis1156]

Battery life is good on my 9930 as well. I make sure I close apps, don't have things like Twitter updating every 5 minutes, and adjusted my brightness settings. I wouldn't let fear dictate my life. If you want it, try it for yourself.

[Chrisy]

Wow. I can't even get 2 days from my 9650!

[ubizmo]

No I am not stretching the truth, not even a little bit. All of us get about 2 days use froma single overnight charge. Heavy usage we get a day and a half, though my best friend only get's about a day and a quarter.

Nearly every other person I know with a BB seems to have the same issue. "It's slow and the battery only lasts a few hours." I ask to see the phone to trouble shoot it and what do I see? 10 freaking apps open in the BG. I close them out, restart the phone and it's creamy smooth.

I'm sorry bud but I've dedicated my life and career to technology. In those years I've found that people are supremely ignorant when it comes to the use of their technology. Close apps when you're done using them. Set your backlight to a low setting along with using auto dim. When you're not using large amounts of data, switch over to EDGE it will save you an ungodly amount of battery life. Se the back light to time out after 10 to 20 seconds.

You're overlooking one important fact, which is that some apps that are not "open in the BG" can nevertheless kill the battery, and the user can't close them if they're not open in the Application Switcher.

I went through the horrible battery life adventure, and it wasn't the open apps that were killing the battery. There were no open apps, apart from the 5 essential ones that can't be closed. It was the "unused" apps that were nevertheless still managing to steal large chunks of CPU time that were doing it. Since there's no way to prevent those apps from doing what they do, they had to be deleted, and once they were gone, battery life was respectable. In my case, it went from 6-7% per hour (with backlight set to 10 and 30 sec timeout, and radio on EDGE, and the phone doing nothing but sitting on my desk in an excellent reception area) to 3%.

You can't call it "user error" when apps behave in a way that no reasonable person would expect them to. You'd think that when you don't open Pandora all day, it would use zero battery, but you'd be wrong. You can check in Application Management and you'll discover that even when you don't touch it, it uses a chunk of CPU time. You'll discover the same about some other apps, but not all.

[MyThIc3LiTe]

I go through 50% of my Berry's battery by noon. On OS 7.1. It's so damn pointless.

And no, I don't have apps open all the time. I have the copious amounts of texting and BBM and a 30 minute drive in the morning in which my phone is connected to the car through bluetooth.

It is still un acceptable that by noon I need to plug it in just to ensure I have enough power to last the other 6 hours till I get home.

[BearSnout]

May I ask, what is the difference between EDGE and 3G and how do I switch between the two?

Thanks!

[Philldoe]

You're overlooking one important fact, which is that some apps that are not "open in the BG" can nevertheless kill the battery, and the user can't close them if they're not open in the Application Switcher.

I went through the horrible battery life adventure, and it wasn't the open apps that were killing the battery. There were no open apps, apart from the 5 essential ones that can't be closed. It was the "unused" apps that were nevertheless still managing to steal large chunks of CPU time that were doing it. Since there's no way to prevent those apps from doing what they do, they had to be deleted, and once they were gone, battery life was respectable. In my case, it went from 6-7% per hour (with backlight set to 10 and 30 sec timeout, and radio on EDGE, and the phone doing nothing but sitting on my desk in an excellent reception area) to 3%.

You can't call it "user error" when apps behave in a way that no reasonable person would expect them to. You'd think that when you don't open Pandora all day, it would use zero battery, but you'd be wrong. You can check in Application Management and you'll discover that even when you don't touch it, it uses a chunk of CPU time. You'll discover the same about some other apps, but not all.

Aye to that. I have many apps on my 9900 that use BG CPU time, push notifications, and BG refresh times, though I still don't see them significantly affect my battery life. As for Pandora, I havn't opened it in a couple of days and app management shows it using zero CPU time today. Social feeds can peg data usage and drain battery life but that's easily avoided by setting it to only refresh every hour or two, or in my case only when I open the app. A refresh takes only a couple of seconds and I habitually check my phone so it's not an inconvenience to me.

Even the members of a Playbook group I am in seem to agree with me on battery life. They all say they get well over a day's use from their phones so I will hold my place in firmly saying it is user error. People just simply don't know any better until they are informed otherwise and I hope many people here take note of what's said in this thread.

Take time to look your phone over, see what apps kill the battery and find better alternatives or simply find other ways to save power. I did so and am much better off for it.

[ubizmo]

As for Pandora, I havn't opened it in a couple of days and app management shows it using zero CPU time today.

That's interesting. I haven't used Pandora in over a week, but it consistently uses about 30-40 seconds of CPU time a day.

[byul]

May I ask, what is the difference between EDGE and 3G and how do I switch between the two?

Thanks!

Options - network and connections - mobile network - network mode - choose band - save.

You can also acces network connectons by tapping/scrolling to the top of your Homescreen - manage connections.

Differences between 3G & EDGE.

Difference Between Edge and 3G | Difference Between | Edge vs 3G

[Philldoe]

May I ask, what is the difference between EDGE and 3G and how do I switch between the two?

Thanks!

This should explain it fairly well.

Difference Between Edge and 3G | Difference Between | Edge vs 3G

the TL;DR version...

3G has much higher data transfer rates than EDGE, it allows you to talk and use data services at the same time, and 3G uses a lot more battery power than EDGE. When I saya lot, I do mean it.

You can switch between the two fairly easily by opening "Networks and Connections" > Mobile Network > and selecting 2G only int he Network Mode drop down menu.

This should be the same in OS6, but I can't remember exactly how it's set up in OS5 though it's quite similar.

[Philldoe]

That's interesting. I haven't used Pandora in over a week, but it consistently uses about 30-40 seconds of CPU time a day.

Hmm I think we have a mystery on our hands

I havn't opened up Pandora since my last hard restart, I'll open it up for a few seconds and shut it down. Maybe it has some sort of push notification or refresh in the BG that dosn't activate until the app is opened after a reset. I'll report back later and see if I can come up wit anything.

[ubizmo]

Hmm I think we have a mystery on our hands

I havn't opened up Pandora since my last hard restart, I'll open it up for a few seconds and shut it down. Maybe it has some sort of push notification or refresh in the BG that dosn't activate until the app is opened after a reset. I'll report back later and see if I can come up wit anything.

It doesn't seem to matter whether I reset or not. I've done several resets since the last time I used it, and right now Application Management shows that it has used 30.3 secs today. It's not the only app that does this. If I go to the CPU screen in Application Management, select the "Today" option, and look down the list, there will always be some apps that I haven't used at all, and they'll show "never used" if I click on them, but they'll have used some CPU time. Usually it's a tiny amount, but not always. Slacker does this. Amazon Music Store does it. PageOnce does it. Poynt does it.

[Philldoe]

Going through my list I can see some apps that I've not opened at all that have used CPU time, but it's obvious why. App world, BBM Music, Podcasts, Visual Voice Mail, all have BG refresh or Push notifications.

I see 2 that are oddly on the list. Memo pad and Bejewled Delux both show 1 second of CPU time today and I have not used either today. Curious, though I doubt a few seconds a day is going to affect battery life significantly.

EDIT: Something that I've neglected to account for is BBM Groups. I am a member of one, but another I was in for quite some time did have quite an impact on my 9800's battery life. when the group was having a chatty day I would see my 9800 last only 2 days at most. Though this group was packed full with lots of people constantly uploading pictures, and chatting in 2 rooms at once. When I bought my 9900 though it didn't seem to affect it much if at all.

I do remember a friend joining the group on an OS6 Curve and with in about an hour of joining the group his phone went form 100% charge to 40%. After a couple of battery pulls and some time to let the group stuff load up his phone wen't back to mostly normal battery life though he could tell a slight differance.

[howards]

I go through 50% of my Berry's battery by noon. On OS 7.1. It's so damn pointless.

And no, I don't have apps open all the time. I have the copious amounts of texting and BBM and a 30 minute drive in the morning in which my phone is connected to the car through bluetooth.

It is still un acceptable that by noon I need to plug it in just to ensure I have enough power to last the other 6 hours till I get home.

It really sounds like a battery problem. Try another one in there and see how that works.

[BearSnout]

Thank you byul and Phildoe. Much appreciated